Backing up Group Policy Objects

PowerShell vs GPMC vs RecoveryManager Plus

A Group Policy Object (GPO) is a collection of settings that define what a system will look like and how it will behave for a defined group of users. A single GPO can contain as many as 5,000 settings and any inadvertent changes to these settings can cause disruptions to a large number of people. To prevent major disruptions like this is, organizations need a tool that can back up GPOs when they are in perfect working condition and restore them if the GPOs are corrupted.

Microsoft provides two ways to back up GPOs, namely PowerShell and Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). While both methods can back up GPOs, they have a few limitations. Check out this chart to see how they line up against RecoveryManager Plus.

Features

PowerShell

GPMC

RecoveryManager Plus

Manual GPO backups (Triggering a GPO backup on-demand.)

User interface (Eliminating the need for scripting.)

Backup scheduler (To automate the backup process.)

Backup version management (Backup each change made to GPOs as separate versions.)

GPO link backup (Backup the links made to GPOs and the objects to which they are linked to.)

As you can see in the chart above, while PowerShell and GPMC allow administrators to back up GPOs, they are not very user-friendly and don't provide any additional features to help make the process easier. RecoveryManager Plus, on the other hand, provides an efficient alternative for keeping your GPOs secure at all times. With options for scheduling backups, retaining multiple versions of the same GPO, and granular restoration capabilities, RecoveryManager Plus offers the best solution for handling GPO backups.